A comprehensive look at the U.S.-Germany relationship that enhances readers’ understanding of World War II.
A history book explores the ties between Germany and the United States before, during, and after World War II.
In this work, Brown (The Legacies, 2018, etc.) delivers a minutely documented overview of the many connections between Americans and Germans during and after the Nazi regime’s time in power. The volume covers technological innovations with impacts on the two countries, prominent Americans like Charles Lindbergh and Joseph Kennedy who forged personal links with Germany, and the many multinational corporations that operated and had financial interests in both nations, from I.G. Farben and Allianz to Alcoa and Eastman-Kodak. The business and financial associations make up much of the narrative, with the author skillfully explaining not only how they operated across national borders, but also why (“The second reason American businesses began to invest more in the Third Reich occurred on July 5, 1935 when President Roosevelt signed the Wagner Act into law”). The book provides a high-level overview of the many individuals and companies involved and details noteworthy or unusual cases, like IBM’s lengthy appeals to a U.S. commission for compensation for its Third Reich facilities. Brown also includes many of the war crimes trials, the Cold War-driven relocation of German officials to America, and the decadeslong effort to restore property confiscated from Jews in Germany and the occupied countries, presenting readers with a clear picture of how entangled the two nations were despite being on opposite sides of a global conflict. The book is thoroughly researched (back matter, including substantial endnotes that both supply citations and allow Brown to digress on topics that do not fit into the main narrative, takes up about a quarter of the pages) and evenhanded. The volume sticks to documented facts, telling an often troubling story without histrionics (“One cannot justify the American thefts for any reason, but one can also understand, maybe even identify with, how otherwise upstanding and honorable American servicemen could have a little sense of entitlement and, in turn, steal from the people who supported, or chose to be unaware of, the monstrous crimes committed against so many innocent people”). The writing is solid, and the author does a good job of analysis, highlighting the conclusions of previous works on the subject (“Michael Bazyler points out that the American jurisprudence system served as the conduit in helping Holocaust survivors to receive compensation”; Erik Larsen’s In the Garden of Beasts “provides an intimate, but chilling examination of just how troublesome life was for” William Dodd (the American ambassador to Germany from 1933 to 1937) and drawing connections for his readers. The book is particularly effective in explaining the combined efforts necessary to obtain some level of compensation for Holocaust survivors, with threats of divestment and pleas of moral suasion balancing lawsuits. Thanks to the work’s voluminous range, both World War II aficionados and those who have only a passing familiarity with the topic should find the text easy to follow and filled with noteworthy information.
A comprehensive look at the U.S.-Germany relationship that enhances readers’ understanding of World War II.Pub Date: March 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73210-883-7
Page Count: 402
Publisher: Albrecht
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Erudite writing from an author struggling to find meaning through music.
An Ohio-based poet, columnist, and music critic takes the pulse of the nation while absorbing some of today’s most eclectic beats.
At first glance, discovering deep meaning in the performance of top-40 songstress Carly Rae Jepsen might seem like a tough assignment. However, Abdurraqib (The Crown Ain’t Worth Much, 2016) does more than just manage it; he dives in fully, uncovering aspects of love and adoration that are as illuminating and earnest as they are powerful and profound. If he can do that with Jepsen's pop, imagine what the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Prince, or Nina Simone might stir in him. But as iconic as those artists may be, the subjects found in these essays often serve to invoke deeper forays into the worlds surrounding the artists as much as the artists themselves. Although the author is interested in the success and appeal of The Weeknd or Chance the Rapper, he is also equally—if not more—intrigued with the sociopolitical and existential issues that they each managed to evoke in present-day America. In witnessing Zoe Saldana’s 2016 portrayal of Simone, for instance, Abdurraqib thinks back to his own childhood playing on the floor of his family home absorbing the powerful emotions caused by his mother’s 1964 recording of “Nina Simone in Concert”—and remembering the relentlessly stigmatized soul who, unlike Saldana, could not wash off her blackness at the end of the day. In listening to Springsteen, the author is reminded of the death of Michael Brown and how “the idea of hard, beautiful, romantic work is a dream sold a lot easier by someone who currently knows where their next meal is coming from.” In all of Abdurraqib’s poetic essays, there is the artist, the work, the nation, and himself. The author effortlessly navigates among these many points before ultimately arriving at conclusions that are sometimes hopeful, often sorrowful, and always visceral.
Erudite writing from an author struggling to find meaning through music.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-937512-65-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Two Dollar Radio
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
A brief but sometimes knotty and earnest set of studies best suited for Shakespeare enthusiasts.
A brisk study of 20 of the Bard’s plays, focused on stripping off four centuries of overcooked analysis and tangled reinterpretations.
“I don’t really care what he might have meant, nor should you,” writes Smith (Shakespeare Studies/Oxford Univ.; Shakespeare’s First Folio: Four Centuries of an Iconic Book, 2016, etc.) in the introduction to this collection. Noting the “gappy” quality of many of his plays—i.e., the dearth of stage directions, the odd tonal and plot twists—the author strives to fill those gaps not with psychological analyses but rather historical context for the ambiguities. She’s less concerned, for instance, with whether Hamlet represents the first flower of the modern mind and instead keys into how the melancholy Dane and his father share a name, making it a study of “cumulative nostalgia” and our difficulty in escaping our pasts. Falstaff’s repeated appearances in multiple plays speak to Shakespeare’s crowd-pleasing tendencies. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a bawdier and darker exploration of marriage than its teen-friendly interpretations suggest. Smith’s strict-constructionist analyses of the plays can be illuminating: Her understanding of British mores and theater culture in the Elizabethan era explains why Richard III only half-heartedly abandons its charismatic title character, and she is insightful in her discussion of how Twelfth Night labors to return to heterosexual convention after introducing a host of queer tropes. Smith's Shakespeare is eminently fallible, collaborative, and innovative, deliberately warping play structures and then sorting out how much he needs to un-warp them. Yet the book is neither scholarly nor as patiently introductory as works by experts like Stephen Greenblatt. Attempts to goose the language with hipper references—Much Ado About Nothing highlights the “ ‘bros before hoes’ ethic of the military,” and Falstaff is likened to Homer Simpson—mostly fall flat.
A brief but sometimes knotty and earnest set of studies best suited for Shakespeare enthusiasts.Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5247-4854-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
